ABSTRACT
William James could easily be conceived of as one of those major philosophers who had close affinities to esotericism. However, the argument of this chapter is that even though James had many interests that verge to the field of esotericism, no significant esoteric influences can be found in his philosophy. The possible “moments” of esoteric thought in James – his background in American transcendentalism and Emanuel Swedenborg, his interest in mysticism and mystical experience, his acquaintance with “psychical research”, and his panpsychism – are each addressed in their turn, and it is argued that none of these really informs his philosophy in a way that would make it esoteric. Rather, James’s heterodox interests should be addressed in the context of his pragmatism, the approach that does not exclude any kind of worldview as “nonsense” from the start, because worldviews ultimately derive their meaning in how they inform one’s actual living. On the other hand, the study of James in relationship to esotericism is still interesting, because it will illuminate the meaning “philosophical temperaments” in James’s pragmatism.
